Staying Healthy By Helping Your Immune System

As any regular readers may know, I work in a health food store but I have been interested in home remedies & other homemade health care information for years. One of my wishes here at Marmee's Pantry is to share that information with you & help you if you share the same goal.

One of our body's largest defense systems (other than the skin, itself) is the Lymph system. The Lord, in His wisdom, located these lymph node clusters in very strategic parts of our bodies; specifically in areas where infections can be fought quickly. When the lymph system is fighting an infection they will swell. That is why your Dr. will feel your neck, arm pits & the area of your spleen during an exam. He/she will get a confirmation of any symptoms you have described or get an idea of something going on that you were unaware of. Now . . . if you have a sore throat & your throat nodes are swollen, there's probably no need to panic, but you can help them do their job better . . .


If you feel that you are coming down w/some little "somethin'-somethin'" you may notice a little swelling in a certain region of your body, OR even a little bit of puffiness in your extremities ~ your face, hands, ankles or feet.  Something that you can do right away to help your system help itself is to increase your water intake, drink LOTS of water & even your favorite herbal tea; you can take a walk ~  you don't have to take a hike, just a quick walk around the block w/your dog or kids or hubbie; another thing you can do is use a good circulation salve on the swollen areas.

You will need:

~1 small cayenne pepper; chopped WITH seeds
~1/2 c. safflower oil
~2 TB grated bees wax

Directions:

1) combine oil & pepper in a pan; heat through but DO NOT boil
2) remove from heat; let cool
3) once mixture is cool (but NOT cold) strain the pepper & seeds out of the oil
4) put oil back in pan, re-heat & add grated bees wax
5) heat through until wax melts
6) poor or spoon out into clean containers with good lids to keep fresh
7) message small amounts onto desired areas to help w/circulation
8)**be careful** when working w/pepper products ~ DO NOT use near eyes & be sure to wash your hands after using & making this recipe


OK ~ I'm going to make an admission here (deep breath) ~ I am one of those women who, as soon as I get home from work or anywhere else & I know I'm not going anywhere or we are not expecting company ~ I will take off my bra &, shall we say, enjoy my freedom! (Ha!) So now when my daughters make fun of me, I have recently found some "ammo" I can give them that may make them think twice & even want to do it too. There may be evidence that wearing a bra too many hours of the day may be linked to breast cancer. "[W]omen wearing a bra 24 hours daily had a 3 in 4 chance of developing breast cancer . . .  wearing all day but not to bed had a 1 in 7 risk . . . less than 23 hours a day, a 1 in 152 risk . . . rarely or never wore one had a 1 out of 168 risk of developing cancer." **Note that nursing also helps good flow & circulation of the breast.**

As I have mentioned in other posts, antiperspirants have been directly related to breast cancer. The biggest reason is b/c they work! Yes, they DO stop us from sweating . . . but in doing so, your lymph system can't eliminate toxins built up in your sweat ~ that's exactly what your sweat is meant to do. So, this may be another "burr in your saddle" to check out my recipes for homemade solid deodorant, spray deodorant or powdered deodorant. Deodorants do not completely inhibit perspiration, but they can help some & cover up the odor ~ DEodorize the odor ~ & will probably have to be re-applied once or twice during the day; depending upon the humidity & your activity. But I would rather go through the trouble of re-applying my deodorant than face breast cancer!

Another help to our lymph system ~ & probably the biggest help ~ is to not let ourselves get dehydrated. You would be surprised at how many of our ailments can be helped simply by upping our water in-take. Some nearly go w/o saying: constipation, bladder infections & other UTI's; but drinking more water can also help w/asthma, arthritis pains & even headaches. 

Here's a good headache remedy that will give you a quick confirmation that what you really needed was water ~ sprinkle a good-sized pinch of salt on your tongue & then drink 3 cups of water. The book, Be Your Own Doctor, says: "The dehydrated brain shuts down & sends signals to the body to conserve energy so that it can survive. It does this effectively by sending you to the couch or your bed & making you lie very still so that you will not use up any more water then you must."  You can keep yourself off the headache couch by trying this little remedy.

Of course, water also help us w/regular, easy bowel movements. How many times have we let ourselves suffer when all we needed was more water?

Another way to help w/good bowel movements & general good health that won't slow down lymph activity is to eat a good diet. Regular people & scientists who ARE NOT food Nazis seem to be finding more & more that the Mediterranean Diet is far more do-able & healthy than what we were raised to think was correct. 

Now . . . please keep in mind that we are all individual & our body will tell us what we need (although, if it tells you that you can live on dark chocolate ~ sadly ~ it's lying to you :-/ ).

Top all of this off with getting enough rest, maintaining a loving, close relationship with your dear man & the sweet satisfaction of feeding on the Word of God & taking advantage of our life's blood of prayer ~ & see if you ~ & others ~ will notice the difference.


Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><